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Market Report

Companies

Currencies

Weekly review

Spectris on Friday said it had bought Concept Life Sciences from Equistone Partners Europe and company management for £163m on a debt and cash-free basis.

HICL Infrastructure Company updated the market on its operations on Friday following the liquidation of Carillion earlier in the month, reporting that its priority is the continuation of services to public sector clients and the users of the facilities at the affected PPP projects.

AstraZeneca found a statistically significant improvement in eight out of nine lung functions for patients tested with its 'PT010' triple-combination drug delivered with a inhaler in late-stage clinical trials.

EasyHotel has conditionally acquired a 125-year leasehold of part of Norfolk House on Silbury Boulevard, a central site in Milton Keynes where it plans to open a 124-bedroom £8.7m hotel by mid-2019.

Mining giant Anglo American said fourth quarter diamond production at its De Beers unit increased by 5% supported by stronger trading conditions, although copper production was flat.

Wealth manager St. James's Place said full year net inflows rose 40% to £9.5bn as funds under management increased 20% to £90.7bn.

Countryside Properties said on Thursday that it had a “strong” first quarter and is trading in line with expectations for the full year, as it reported a 47% jump in total completions.

Hi tech manufacturer Senior said it had won a new $40m contract with Airbus to provide medium-to-complex machine details and sub-assemblies.

Sales at retailer WH Smith fell over the Christmas period, mostly on the back of a weaker performance from its high street stores.

Mexico-based precious metals mining company Fresnillo reported record annual silver production in its fourth quarter production update on Wednesday, totalling 58.7 moz including Silverstream.

Chile focused miner Antofagasta on Wednesday said full year copper production fell 0.7% to 704,300 tonnes, in line with guidance.

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson reported a rise in full-year pre-tax profit on Wednesday, with revenue and volumes edging up, as it announced that Patrick Bergin has been promoted to the role of chief executive officer with effect from 22 March.

Computacenter said it plans to return up to £100m to shareholders through a tender offer.

IT services group FDM said it expected full year results to be ahead of expectations after a strong second half as revenues grew 23% to £233m.

Marston's said on Tuesday that it took a hit from the snowy and icy weather in early December and between Christmas and New Year, although its pubs saw record sales on Christmas day.

N Brown, the clothing retailer for plus-size and plus-age shoppers, had a sturdy third quarter, with a strong surge in its Simply brand and in the US but relatively subdued compared to previous months.

Smiths Group has agreed to sell its John Crane's Bearings business to private Austrian company Miba AG for an enterprise value of $35m.

Having rejected a £7bn hostile bid from Melrose Industries last week, GKN sought to highlight its potential as a standalone entity on Monday, lifting sales forecasts for its electric driveline (eDrive) business.

FTSE 100 catering company Compass said on Monday that changes to the US tax system will cut its effective tax rate from 26.5% to around 24%.

National Grid announced on Monday that, following the rate case filing in April last year, both it and the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) have filed a joint proposal for a three-year rate plan settlement for the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation electric and gas distribution utility.

Economic news

The pound shot up on Friday morning as Bank of England governor Mark Carney said he could see a "conscious re-coupling" between the UK and the booming world economy and defended his gloomy Brexit predictions.

The British economy grew more strongly than economists expected in the final three months of 2017, official data showed on Friday, increasing the chances that the Bank of England could raise interest rates again this year.

UK mortgage approval numbers dropped off more than expected last month with approvals by the main high street banks falling to their lowest level since January 2015, data from the industry showed on Thursday.

There was further disappointing news from the under-pressure high street on Thursday, when the CBI reported weaker than expected January sales data.

UK wage growth picked up slightly as employment grew sharply in the three months to November, official data showed on Wednesday, helping lift the pound to a new 19-month high.

The Democratic Unionist Party has called for a 25-mile bridge or tunnel between Portpatrick, Scotland and Galloway, Northern Ireland, capitalising on the renewed talk of cross-border bridges after one was proposed over the English Channel.

US existing-home sales fell 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57m from a downwardly revised 5.78m in November, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, and further than the 2.2% consensus forecast.

The UK’s manufacturing sector performed strongly in the last quarter, according to the latest data from the CBI.

Financial services companies may face more disputes with SMEs after the UK financial regulator proposed widening access to the Financial Ombudsman Service to include business with up to 50 employees.

Prime Minister Theresa May has repeated her warning that company bosses who fail to protect workers pension schemes will face huge fines.

International events

Europe’s leading banks turned a corner last year, a decade after the financial crisis, and are likely to enjoy further growth in 2018, according to a report by S&P Global Ratings.

Currencies are dominating the debate at the World Economic Forum, after European Central Bank board member Benoît Coeuré called on economies to stop using exchange rates for their own competitive advantage.

German business confidence unexpectedly improved in January, according to a widely-followed survey.

The European Central Bank left interest rates and its forward guidance on policy unaltered on Thursday, pledging to keep its asset purchases running until inflationary pressures pick up.

Beijing has announced plans to roll out fresh market-opening measures in 2018 that could exceed international expectations, Liu He, a member of the Chinese government's politburo said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.

US existing-home sales fell 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57m from a downwardly revised 5.78m in November, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, and further than the 2.2% consensus forecast.

The Bank of Japan continued to keep monetary policy steady today, after it voted 8 – 1 to keep its short-term interest rate unchanged at -0.1%, but noted that inflation expectations had remained steady, which initially saw the country's currency gain.

Strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch revised their year-end target for the S&P 500 higher, telling clients that the "great rotation out of bonds into stocks" had yet to materialise, predicting corporations would use their tax windfall on slashing debt and M&A, as well as on share buy-backs and investment.

In an interview on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show, French president Emmanuel Macron said that, if given a similar "yes or no" opportunity, France would likely vote to leave the European Union.

The IMF maintains its growth prediction for the UK in 2018 at 1.5% but cuts its forecast for 2019 by one tenth of a percentage point, to 1.5% as well.